OPEN CLASSROOM: Vision, Challenges,
Perspectives
Dr. Alan Bruce
EDEN Open Classroom Conference
Athens: 28 October 2011
D’où venons nous?Que sommes nous?Où allons nous?
Contours of crisis
Schooling at the crossroads: the obsolete template and the 21st century
Economic meltdown: globalization and neo-liberal ascendancy
Seeking vision: significance, relevance, meaning
Technological Tantalus: ICT, communications and potential
Innovation imperatives
Method and rationale
Need to: re-visit key questions on purpose and
reason for education and schooling question assumptions and
presuppositions underlying knowledge transmission systems
investigate power, access and control challenge strategic policy directions assert transformative potential of ICT
Gauguin’s question: 1 Psychoanalytic: Erikson in Childhood and
Society Philosophy: purpose, value and social
utility History: the development of institutions and
the politics of control Sociology: Rousseau to Illich and the
shaping of systems Pedagogical: learning to learn and
exponential change
Gauguin’s question: 2
Autonomous learner or social being Critical thinker or passive recipient Empowered or victim Production, autonomy and control Citizenship, economy and rights Emancipatory dialectic or return to
barbarism (Kargartlitsky)
Gauguin’s questions: 3
Proclaiming excellence in chaos Setting strategic goals in times of
uncertainty Purpose and meaning in the learning
matrix Creating and sustaining value Shaping potential and defining hope The courage to challenge
The impact of changeThe old world is dying.
The new world struggles to be born.
Now is the time of monsters. Antonio Gramsci
Change dynamics
Sustained and systemic Accelerating Multidimensional and simultaneous Structural incapacity to incorporate
required modifications and adjustments Deep uncertainty in terms of future
options Unprecedented levels of challenge
Globalization as norm
Flexible structures and modalities Ever-increasing emphasis on
competitiveness Ruthless focus on profitability Ruptured communities and helpless
individuals Structural imbalances Limitless opportunities
Globalized work
End of job norms – flexible multitasking to meet market transformation
Shifting production patterns Outsourcing and permanent migration Knowledge economy and lifelong
learning Adaptability and creativity Concentrated wealth, access and power
Globalization: the threats Persistence and increase in inequality Permanent hopelessness of excluded Embedded violence Internal underclass External invisibility
Globalization: the opportunities
Time warp of nation state Integration and participation Learning without borders Global communication and
dissemination of knowledge ‘Collective effort not collective
answers’ (Therborn)
Impact of crisis
End of certainties Explosive social tensions Systemic policy paralysis Spiraling indebtedness Rupture with past assumptions on linear
progress Inadequacy of traditional learning and
schooling systems to meet new needs
Anticipating the future (OECD
1994)
Future learning and employment needs (Jobs Study) Policy change Flexibility Entrepreneurship Internationalization Technology
The future is now…
Potential provision of universal schooling is now realized
Internationalization is the norm Technology is pervasive but unevenly
accessible or applied ‘Flexibility’: weapon or tool? Entrepreneur: leader or false god? Policy: shaping or copying?
School and community
Leadbetter’s insights
Critical issue of motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic)
Centrality of innovation Instilling purpose:
education + technology = hope
Defining directions
Excellence Innovation Leadership System change Reform ‘The chemistry of widespread
improvement’ (Michael Fullan)
Comparative analysis (McKinsey 2010) – 20 countries
Key interventions:
1. Revise curriculum and standards
2. Set appropriate pay for teachers/principals
3. Enhance technical skills for teachers
4. Improve student assessment systems
5. Quality data systems
6. Improve policy and laws
Evidence of improvement Pattern of improvement is independent
of geography, times or culture Interventions are mutually reinforcing Collaborative practice works best There must be an architecture of
leadership
Michael Fullan 2010
The power of collective capacity is that it enables ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things – for two reasons. One is that knowledge about effective practice becomes more widely available and accessible on a daily basis. The second reason is more powerful still – working together generates commitment.
Developing school leadership
OECD 2008: Support, evaluate and develop teacher
quality Goal setting, assessment and
accountability Strategic financial and HR management Collaboration with other schools
Reactions to crisis
Effort to establish status quo ante Denial and paralysis Rage and frustration Cut, cut and cut: the marketization of
thought Copy ‘success’ stories Opportunity to learn: the innovation
imperative Creativity unbound
From crisis to renewal
“School systems that have successfully ignited reforms and sustained their momentum have all relied on at least one of three events to get them started: they have either taken advantage of a
political or economic crisis, or commissioned a high-profile report critical
of the system’s performance, or have appointed a new, energetic and
visionary political or strategic leader.”McKinsey 2010
Innovation
Holy Grail of crisis resolution Imperative for future restructuring Linked centrally to:
policy
knowledge production
information explosion
ownership
Constraining innovation
Commodification of knowledge Institutional resistance Reward, patents and ownership Community resistance Outcomes and results Incremental and disruptive dimensions Planning for innovation?
Creativity and ICEAC Study (IPTS 2011)
Form of knowledge creation Product or process that demonstrates
balance of originality and value A thinking skill Ability to make unforeseen connections Based on learner empowerment Innovative teaching supports creative
learning
Creativity and innovation: finding evidence
Conceptualized in different ways even if universally mentioned
Teachers: 91% agree ICT enhances creativity Theory stronger than practice:
Only 46% of teachers use playOnly 41% use multidisciplinary workOnly 50% believe creativity can be assessedOnly 58% had training in ICT classroom useOnly 25% claim ICT quality in their schools is
excellent
Creativity: stakeholder evidence
Expert perceptions of rigidity and inflexibility on curricula and assessment
Institutional resistance to change: ethos of control, discipline and hierarchy
Innovation only exists in pockets – not generalized
Mindset shift critical ICT quality use suggests partnership
with students, not authoritarian control
Creativity: conclusions Curricula: holistic, supported and
exploratory Pedagogic practices: not rigid and inflexible Assessment: impact of central exams Teacher training: need for CPD, guidance,
vision, exchanges Culture: leadership, tolerance and diversity Technology: vast potential
The Creanova project (2008-11)
Key findings: school and workCollaborative learningExperimental designInnovation as policyDiscovering Vision 2010
Embedding creativity Organic, reflective evaluative follow-up Analysis and modification Lasting partnerships between research
units and schools Labor market transformation impact Organic link to work and community Professional passion - out of the strait-
jacket
Mapping educational innovation
Improve (formal/sustain axis) Supplement (informal/sustain axis) Reinvent (formal/disruptive axis) Transform (informal/disruptive axis)
Mapping vision Re-appropriate a sense of human values and
personal worth Re-envisage purpose and intention of learning Accept the full impact of globalized society Multidimensional futures Stratification has an impact Learning is not simply learning: it is
communication Instilling awareness that change is possible,
alternatives are viable
Crisis impact: system change
Shared challenges Demographic changes: ageing and life
expectancy Women and labor market participation Immigration Cultural and religious difference Conflict and stress Hyper-urbanization
Shared opportunities
Increased application of new knowledge Open and distance learning
technologies facilitating learners and staff competence
Transformation of traditional teaching role to mentoring, guiding and facilitation
Development of network of innovative best practice at European level
Solutions are possible
Regeneration and renewal Restructuring based on quality,
meritocracy, equal opportunities Processes that trigger innovation,
creativity, initiative
Diamatopolou 2011
From science to wisdomThe strangeness of reality consistently exceeds
the expectations of science, and the assumptions of science, however tried and rational, are very inclined to encourage false expectations. It is a tribute to the brilliance of science that we can know such things. And it is also an illustration of the fact that science does not foreclose possibility, including discoveries that overturn very fundamental assumptions, and that it is not a final statement about reality but a highly fruitful mode of inquiry into it.
Marilynne Robinson, Absence of Mind (2010)
Charting vision
Courage and leadership Collaborative engagement Imagining the impossible Asserting rights Access and inclusion Redefined roles – end of the factory
school Community and transformation
Linkage and creativity
Directions
Innovation based on questions, not answers: avoiding mantras and clichés
The poetry of open discovery and delight Constructing schools as critical spaces Connecting science and discovery through
technologies of emancipatory practice Rediscovering community in a fractured
continent
Σας ευχριστώ πολύ
Dr Alan Bruce
ULS Dublin